


Found

by StephirothWasTaken



Series: No Magic No Kingdom AU [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amputee, Baby Noctis Lucis Caelum, Child Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, Disabled Character, Gen, Inappropriate Nicknames, No Magic No Kingdom AU, child ravus nox fleuret, good guy regis, i am so terrible at titles, t rating for one cuss word, undefined disability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:07:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26294611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephirothWasTaken/pseuds/StephirothWasTaken
Summary: When Clarus and Regis visit Cor at a hospital in Tenebrae, they make a surprise visit to an orphanage, where they find the missing Nox Fleuret children.
Series: No Magic No Kingdom AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1307753
Comments: 7
Kudos: 18





	Found

**Author's Note:**

> My goal is to post every Thursday, and unfortunately I’m late this week. I’m not as disappointed in myself as I should be. haha Probably because you’re definitely getting a better version than you would have on Thursday.
> 
> If you read the story I posted last year, this is a retcon of the AU, admittedly. I will explain more at the end.
> 
> I have noticed one habit I have when describing the Lucis Caelums: I always call them “cursed." I have said it in so many of my fics. I’ll try and avoid that word from now on.

Regis has seen Cor in many terrifying conditions before, but this was the first time he had seen him so still. He was gaunt and pale, and even though he was a tall man, he looked so small beneath the pale blue and raggedy blanket. An oxygen mask fogged with his shallow breaths, and bandages covered most of his body. Cor was “lucky to be alive,” the Accordan doctors had told him, because he had rushed into a burning building to rescue as many children as he could, and now every breath was a fight to survive.

The kid had a knack for thrusting himself into the most dangerous of situations, and it was no surprise that he had done it again on the last day of the Great War. They were proud of him this time because he had saved hundreds of women and children, but that did not make looking at him any easier.

A heavy hand fell onto Regis’s shoulder, and he looked up to find his oldest friend Clarus standing next to him. The taller man’s blue eyes were red-rimmed with unshed tears.

“Shithead’s a survivor,” Clarus reminded him, voice thick. “He’ll make it through this.”

“He damn well better,” Regis said. “He still hasn’t tried Aulea’s cooking or met his youngest nephew.”

“Yeah, and he promised to come see Gladio again. Kid hasn’t shut up about him since they met.”

A sad smile spread on Regis’s lips and he recalled the day Cor had met Clarus’s son, the first and last time he had gotten to see him. After spending so much of his life as a soldier—since thirteen years old—Cor had seemed lost as he had spent his time off doing nothing but listen to a little boy prattle on about his favorite TV heroes and whatever silly things popped into his head.

“I’ll pay to have him transferred to Insomnia,” he said. “It’ll relieve the doctors here, and he’ll receive better care.”

“Yeah.”

Regis watched Cor’s bruised eyes, praying they would snap open, but they remained eerily still. He had never been the most talkative of people, but he had always been alert and aware of everything around him.

Clarus squeezed his shoulder.

“Let’s go talk to someone about transferring him, and then I have somewhere I wanted to go.”

“And where’s that?”

“A surprise. Maybe. I don’t want to get your hopes up.”

“What—”

“Don’t worry about it yet. I’ll explain later. See you later, Cor,” Clarus added as he exited the room.

Regis sighed.

“What on Eos could that old man be up to?” he said to Cor. “We’ll be back in a while, little brother, hopefully with some good news for you.”

Regis leaned against his cane as he stood, grimacing at the spikes of pain that shot through his swollen knee, and after pausing for a moment to watch Cor’s labored breaths, he heaved another sigh and hobbled out of the room, heart heavy with worry for his friend.

* * *

Clarus’s surprise turned out to be an orphanage. The Lucian government had taken many of the children to orphanages throughout the world. There had been so many there that no single country could hold on to all of them, and it was a difficult task to match up the children with any family members, especially when half of them were too young to remember their family or too damaged to even consider living in a regular household.

“And why are we here, Clarus?” Regis asked, frowning at the building as he looked out the window of their rented car.

“Nigella has been going through the lists of orphaned kids as much as she’s allowed,” Clarus said, “and I just wanted to make sure about something.”

Regis would have joked about a long-lost child of his, but that would have earned him a solid punch to his face, if the man was feeling kind, or to his damaged knee, if he was not. Instead, he sighed and climbed out of the car.

Showing pity for Regis’s swollen knee, Clarus helped Regis to the building, taking most of his weight. They could hear the giggles and squeals of happy children as they went, and it was a relief that there were a few children who could still have moments of happiness after the War.

Inside the building, bleach and too many flowery scents stung their noses. An older woman with dark circles under her eyes stood behind a desk, shuffling papers around. Regis felt guilty for being there, even though it was Clarus’s idea, because these people were already struggling to find enough time in the day.

“ _Mi scusi_ ,” Clarus said, keeping his deep voice soft for the frazzled woman. 

The woman looked up, and her eyes widened as she took in the two men. She forced a cheerful smile on her face.

“Ah, Mister Amicitia and Mister Lucis Caelum,” she said carefully and with a heavy Accordan accent. “Forgive me. My Lucian is, eh, not good. What brings you here?”

It was no surprise that the woman recognized him. Clarus and Regis were among the richest people in the world, and they were descendants of Lucian Royalty and their bodyguards. Their families had once been—and still were, in some ways—the most powerful people in the world.

“Reggie’s Accordan is much better than mine,” Clarus said, “so he can translate, if you need help.”

“I’ll ask if I need help, but I’ll speak Lucian so everyone understands.”

“That’s kind of you. My wife called here a while back. Nigella Amicitia?”

The woman frowned, and she shuffled some papers around. Her eyes brightened when she found what she had been looking for.

“About the Nox Fleuret children? Yes, she did. You want to meet them?”

Regis startled at the familiar name. He had grown up good friends with the Nox Fleurets, communicating with Sylva through letters until the Great War had claimed their home and their lives. The children had been presumed dead but never found.

“Luna and Ravus are here?” he asked, incredulous.

“Yes, sir,” the woman said, but her smile turned sad. “But they are, eh, sick.”

“Sick?”

“No child left Gralea whole people. Are you family of them?”

The Lucis Caelums and the Nox Fleurets had almost been related, but then they had had a terrible feud that had led to a war. That had been well over 2000 years ago, and Regis was glad to say they had repaired their relationship many generations ago.

“We’re friends,” Regis said. “I was a close friend of their mother’s, and I knew them when they were small.”

“We would like to see them,” Clarus said.

“Okay. We close in two hours, but you can stay until then.”

Despite his swollen knee, Regis was eager to follow the woman through the orphanage. They caught the stares of many children and a few young volunteers, but it was difficult to look at most of them. The Empire had done horrible things to these children: drugged them, maimed them, injected strange substances into them, and more.

They reached a quiet room. Soft music played while children sat around reading or putting together puzzles. Some had fallen asleep. As he scanned the room, he spotted no children with obvious afflictions. He found a boy with silver-blond hair reading from a book in his lap. The boy he had seen in pictures had been far younger than this child, but there was no mistaking him for anyone other than Sylva’s boy. There were yellowing bruises on his pale face, and his left arm was missing.

Pangs assaulted Regis’s chest, and the air left his lungs. He remembered him as an infant. Sylva had loved her children so fiercely, and he wished there had been something he could have done to spare them the horrors they had faced under the Empire.

The woman called to Ravus in a language Regis recognized as Tenebraen, but the words were unfamiliar. He should have studied Tenebraen instead of Accordan in the military.

The silver-headed boy snapped his attention away from the book, revealing that his left eye had turned from blue to purple. His eyes darted back and forth between the woman and the two men tailing her. There was no spark of recognition, but that was unsurprising, considering how young he had been when the Empire had taken him. Ravus nodded at something the woman said to him, and he shut the book before sliding out the chair.

It startled Regis when he tucked that book into the side of a wheelchair, which held a younger blonde girl who looked just like Sylva had when she had been a little girl. Ravus wiped spittle from her mouth with his sleeve. The woman pulled the wheelchair to another part of the room, Ravus following close behind, and then she waved at the stunned men to sit on the couch.

“I will do my best to translate,” she said, “but I can’t stay long. There is much to do.”

The woman waved toward Clarus and Ravus as they spoke, giving the boy their names, and Regis assumed it was an introduction. Ravus shrank into himself as she spoke, and he said nothing, which was fine by Regis. These children deserved to open up at their own pace.

“He won’t talk,” the woman said, “and when he does, it’s usually in Niflheimr. But he still remembers his natural language.”

Regis observed Luna. Her blue eyes looked at them, but otherwise she was still.

“Lunafreya and Ravus went through much in Gralea,” the woman said, stating the obvious. “Ravus’s arm was already missing, but there was infection. He’s healing, but he won’t rest in his bed. He wants to stay with his sister all the time.”

The silver-headed boy poked at a loose thread in his pants, waiting for someone to call to him again or for the conversation to be over.

“Lunafreya,” the woman said, “had many toxins in her body, and she won’t talk either. We care for her the best we can, but she never reacts to anything. She looks but never talks or moves. We don’t know if it’s because of her body or her mind. Probably both.”

Regis nodded. His eyes had gone warm, but he wanted to hold back the tears, to keep a brave face in front of these two vulnerable—and strong—children. He looked at Clarus, who was having more trouble hiding the tears in his eyes than he was.

“Have you gotten into contact with any of their family?” Regis asked. “I’m afraid the one contact I had passed away during the invasion.”

“I don’t have an answer to that question. There is too much to do. Many documents were destroyed. We are trying. If you know anything at all, it would help us find them.”

Regis had the urge to tell this woman to prepare the adoption papers right away. He knew such a thing was not as simple as that. There were more than just documents to sign during adoptions, and he would have to wait several months to make sure a family member would not step forward to take them in.

It would have been easy to keep any information he knew about the Nox Fleurets to himself and selfishly take them in. Aulea might get upset with him for making a rash decision without consulting her, even if she would agree to taking them in, too, but it would be worth it to make sure these children received the best life possible.

Still, these children deserved family, someone who could tell them more intimate stories about their parents than he could.

“They had an uncle in Accordo during the invasion,” Regis said. “I don’t know anything about him, other than he was on their father’s side.”

“An uncle?” the woman said as she searched frantically for something. “What is his name?”

“Oh, dear, I don’t quite recall.”

“It was Terra or something, right?” Clarus asked. “Wasn’t that their dad’s name?”

Regis looked over to Clarus, who was searching through his pockets. He looked through his own pockets, finding a pen he had used to write a large check to the hospital system. It was a heavy thing, made of precious metals. His checkbook had some blank pages he could use, and he pulled it out, thinking while he turned all the way to the back.

“Terrae,” Regis mumbled, and he wrote it down on the blank page in his checkbook. “That was his family name. He went to Accordo and got married there, but I unfortunately don’t know to who.”

“That will help us, sir,” the woman said. “Thank you.”

After a full minute of pondering over the name, Regis came up empty. He would have to search through the letters from Sylva to see if he kept one where she mentioned him. With a sigh, he tore the paper out of his checkbook, and he passed it to the woman.

“If I remember his full name,” Regis said, “I will send a message here.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Regis turned to the Nox Fleuret children. Ravus watched him, mismatching eyes wide with curiosity, and Luna only sat there, blue unfocused. He wanted to promise he would take them home, but if they had any family who remained and wanted to take responsibility over them, then he would hold back on the promises for now.

“I understand there will be quite some time before Luna and Ravus are eligible for adoption,” Regis said.

“Yes, we have Lucian laws now, and Lucian laws tell us to keep children in foster care for three months. If family asks for them after that and they are in a home, then the family has less fighting power in a court.”

Even if they discovered their uncle after that three-month period, then Regis would give them to him. Social workers had their hands tied at the moment, and he could forgive someone for coming around later.

“I will keep in touch,” Regis said. “If we don’t find their family in three months, I’ll be taking them home.”

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

Regis had no idea how Cor could give the most murderous looks while being in a drug haze, but the man was a natural at it. 

“You can fuckin’ leave if you gon’ cry,” Cor slurred.

Regis chuckled, and he did not bother to wipe away the tears soaking into his beard.

“Happy to see you, too, shithead,” Clarus said, tone amused.

Cor looked better than he had two weeks before. Bandages still covered most of his body, but there was more color to his cheeks. His wounds were clean, and the bruises had faded.

A brief conversation with Cor revealed that he did not remember much before he had left on his mission for Gralea. There were snippets here and there that could have been from the raid, like the empty houses. Most of Niflheim had been devoid of its citizens by the time Lucis had invaded.

Regis tried not to think about how the Empire had spared none of its citizens of its strange experiments. He could not even imagine the horrors that Cor had witnessed while he was there, especially in that research facility.

“Where’d’you say I was?” Cor asked for the third time.

“Insomnia,” Regis told him. “You came here on an airship.”

“I hate airships.”

“We all do.”

Cor’s eyes drifted close, and Clarus and Regis realized they have overstayed their welcome.

“We’ll let you rest,” Regis said, dropping the nickname he preferred to call him. “I’m so glad you’re doing well.”

Cor had fallen asleep and gave no answer. With a sigh, Regis turned to Clarus, and they nodded before making their way out of the room. A weight had lifted off Regis’s chest, he realized, because he got to see with his own eyes that his friend was doing better.

* * *

**A Month Later**

“Ah, ha!” Regis exclaimed. “Perfusorius!”

After scouring through several boxes of old letters, Regis had finally found the one mentioning the Nox Fleuret children’s uncle. He had sneaked into Accordo to find work, but there was no way for him to know what had happened to him after the fall of Tenebrae because Sylva had died.

Regis turned in his swivel chair to look at the black-haired infant sitting in his baby swing. The boy flailed a plastic ring around, and drool drenched his face. He paid his father no mind as he entertained himself.

“Let’s go tell your mother!” Regis said, and he lifted his son from the baby swing, uncaring as the child abandoned his ring to chew on his shirt.

Regis had rested his knee enough that he would not need to use his cane as he walked through the long halls of the Caelum Manor. He found Aulea in the kitchen, eating a snack while she used a breast pump. She had pulled her long brown hair back into a bun, and she wore no make-up to cover up the dark circles under sapphire blue eyes.

“I finally have discovered the name,” Regis said. “Perfusorius!”

“That’s a mouthful,” Aulea chuckled.

“Yes, leave it to nobility to come up with such pompous names. I wonder what nicknames he has. Perfy? Fussy?”

“You would have definitely called him Fussy.”

“Or Pervy.”

Aulea gave him a pointed look, the kind that told him to be nice, but it softened into a chuckle.

Regis sat next to her at the kitchen island, and he stole a cheese-covered cracker as he leaned over to press a kiss to her cheek. It was not until he righted himself that he realized the heaviness that had settled into his chest.

“Ah, there’s that sad look again,” Aulea sighed. “Everything will turn out fine, Reggie.”

“I certainly hope so. I just want the children to have a suitable home. Whether that’s with me or their uncle doesn’t matter.”

When Regis had told Aulea about them, she had agreed wholeheartedly that taking them would be the right decision. Taking them in would be overwhelming, especially with Regis’s busy schedule and an infant, but Regis could provide everything they needed. Their uncle, if he was alive, would no doubt struggle financially, but Regis could help with that, too.

He just hated that the future was uncertain.

“Are you finished going through the letters now?” Aulea asked.

She had never complained, but Regis knew it had to be driving her nuts that he had so many boxes lying around the study and their bedroom. 

“I was considering given Luna and Ravus Sylva’s letters,” Regis said. “It would be better if they got to know her better. Nothing from Fenestala Manor survived the invasion, so I have the last pieces of her.”

Aulea’s eyebrows flew up to her hairline.

“That’s really kind of you, Reggie,” she said.

Noctis shouted, startling both of his parents. Regis pulled him away from his shoulder. Aulea cooed at him, and Noctis giggled, flashing his gums.

* * *

**One Month Later**

Regis had learned during his phone call to the orphanage that Perfusorius had been found, and he was eager to take in the Nox Fleuret children. He had been living with his wife in Accordo, and upon learning that they were alive, he had sold his home and moved to Tenebrae, where they could live a quieter life.

Clarus and Regis rode in a car rental, and Regis sat in the passenger seat. The roads on the way to the village were bumpy, but it offered a stunning view of the mountains in the distance. It had been a long time since he had gotten to see the countryside of Tenebrae.

“There’ll have drive quite a way to the therapist,” Regis said.

“This view is a fantastic therapy by itself.”

Regis only hummed.

“You’ve already got the disappointed dad look going, don’t you?” Clarus chuckled. “Ready to give Perfy a stern talking to about taking care of special needs children.”

Regis snorted at the nickname.

“He seemed competent on the phone,” he admitted. “I just need to make sure.”

“You’re a tough guy to convince of anything. Try not to scare him too much.”

Regis enjoyed making people squirm, and he no intention of listening to Clarus’s advice.

The country house was large by most people’s standards. It was built into a hill and three stories tall. There was plenty of yard space. A ramp for wheelchairs lead up to the front door, and it was easier for Regis to walk up that porch steps.

An older woman answered the door.

“Ah, you are _Signor_ Caelum,” she said with a slight Accordan accent, “and _Signor_ Amicitia. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yes, good to meet you,” Regis said as he shook her hand.

“My name is Mia. I am Perfusorius’s mother-in-law. I assume you’re here to see the Nox Fleuret children.”

“Yes, _signore_.”

“They’re in the kitchen with Perfusorius. This way.”

Mia lead them through house. It was a nice, spacious house. It was far different from everything Regis was used to, and it felt like walking through a movie set, which was a silly feeling to have. 

Regis heard the children before he saw them. A heavy weight lifted from his shoulders when he found Ravus sitting in the kitchen, a slight smile on his face as he watched Lunefreya cooing in her wheelchair. He had no idea what the girl was cooing over—there was nothing nearby other than Ravus and an empty plate of pasta—but there was no more beautiful sound than a happy child.

A rather reedy-looking man hopped to his feet, and he stammered as he introduced himself:

“Ah, Mr. Caelum,” the man, Perfusorius, said in a Tenebraean accent. “Mr. Amicitia. I hope you don’t think us rude for having dinner already—”

“No, please, I don’t want to interrupt any rituals,” Regis said. “Thank you for letting me come here. Your home is beautiful.”

“Ah, thank you. Thank you. I can show you around later. Why don’t you eat, sirs? You must be hungry after your long travel.”

Clarus and Regis thanked them as they sat at the table. Mia grinned from ear to ear as she watched the children. Ravus watched him, but he turned his gaze away when their eyes met.

Regis had asked Cor how to say a few simple phrases in Niflheimr.

“ _Hello,_ Ravus. I hope you’re doing well.”

The boys’ mismatched eyes widened as they went back to Regis’s.

“ _I’m well, sir._ ”

Regis wished he could have asked if his family was treating him well, but there would have been little point in that. He had been tortured for so long that he would have a skewed view of how a child was supposed to be treated.

He and Clarus enjoyed the evening with the household. They were kind people, tired but eager to learn how to live with each other. By the time they left for their hotel room, Regis had a good feeling that Sylva’s children were in good hands.

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t think this worked as a short story quite as well as I thought it would when I came up with the idea, but I think it shows Regis being a good guy, which is all I wanted to do, honestly.
> 
> I went back and looked at “Ticket to Lucis,” which is the Ravus-centric story I posted for the holidays last year, and I was surprised that I had not gone with the idea that the Nox Fleurets had lived with a family. I was going with the idea that Ravus and Luna were stuck in foster care, which implies that Regis would not have adopted them. Regis definitely strikes me as the kind of dude who would have adopted the Nox Fleurets if he had the opportunity, and it’s a little weird that I didn’t consider that back then.
> 
> I have started outlines for two different stories for this AU, and I hope to start posting at least one of them by the end of the year. If you have any questions for the AU, it might help me get an idea of what other short stories I should make to help me fill in the gaps of the AU (because I'm a bit scatter-brained and forget stuff).
> 
> All right. Time to stop rambling. Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated and very encouraging!


End file.
